Bah Humbug: Senate Passes Health Care Reform Bill

The Senate this morning voted to pass Majority Leader Harry Reid’s Health Care Reform bill… A.K.A. the single biggest crap sandwich ever foisted on Americans. The was 60-39 entirely along party lines with all Democrats for it and Republicans voting against it:

In a vote resonating with history, Senate Democrats early Christmas Eve morning passed their version of health care reform, advancing the issue further than ever before in the nation’s history and setting up a bruising stretch-run to get a final bill to President Obama next year.

“It’s about people, it’s about life and death in America. It’s a question of morality, of right and wrong,” said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat. “It’s about human suffering, and given the change to relieve this suffering, we must take this chance.”

The party-line 60-39 vote is the midway point for the bill. It must now be reconciled with a very different House measure. Major sticking points remain, including how to treat federal payments for abortions, whether to force insurance companies to compete with a government-run public health plan and which taxes to raise to pay for the changes.

The good news is this turkey is still has hurdle or two to clear before becoming law, the bad news is I don’t think it matters… The Democrats have invested far to much time and political capital in jamming their so called reforms through Congress. If liberals in the House have to, they will roll over and vote for the Senate bill in toto. Never mind what the White House is saying Democrats in Congress can not let this, um, debate drag into February, or worse, March… The closer they get to election day the less likely passage becomes.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer will do whatever they have to do to get health care reform the House as quickly as possible… Even if that means bribing they’re caucus into voting for the Senate bill in toto.

Related

• What Doctors and Patients Have to Lose Under ObamaCare – Dr. Scott Gottlieb, Wall Street Journal
• A Democrat’s view from the House: Senate bill isn’t health reform – Rep. Louise M. Slaughter, CNN.com
• Surprise! Gaming CBO rules masks how healthcare reform may actually make deficit worse – James Pethokoukis, Reuters
• Senate passes Reid bill, 60-39 – Ed Morrissey, Hot Air

Tom Coburn: Senate Health Care Bill is Scarier Than You Think

I have no doubt that critics will claim Dr. Tom Coburn’s Wall Street Journal op-ed is nothing but scare tactics… But the simple truth is if quoting from the bill scares people maybe the bill itself isn’t such good idea:

My 25 years as a practicing physician have shown me what happens when government attempts to practice medicine: Doctors respond to government coercion instead of patient cues, and patients die prematurely. Even if the public option is eliminated from the bill, these onerous rationing provisions will remain intact.

For instance, the Reid bill (in sections 3403 and 2021) explicitly empowers Medicare to deny treatment based on cost. An Independent Medicare Advisory Board created by the bill—composed of permanent, unelected and, therefore, unaccountable members—will greatly expand the rationing practices that already occur in the program. Medicare, for example, has limited cancer patients’ access to Epogen, a costly but vital drug that stimulates red blood cell production. It has limited the use of virtual, and safer, colonoscopies due to cost concerns. And Medicare refuses medical claims at twice the rate of the largest private insurers.

Section 6301 of the Reid bill creates new comparative effectiveness research (CER) programs. CER panels have been used as rationing commissions in other countries such as the U.K., where 15,000 cancer patients die prematurely every year according to the National Cancer Intelligence Network. CER panels here could effectively dictate coverage options and ration care for plans that participate in the state insurance exchanges created by the bill.

Additionally, the Reid bill depends on the recommendations of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force in no fewer than 14 places. This task force was responsible for advising women under 50 to not undergo annual mammograms. The administration claims the task force recommendations do not carry the force of law, but the Reid bill itself contradicts them in section 2713. The bill explicitly states, on page 17, that health insurance plans “shall provide coverage for” services approved by the task force. This chilling provision represents the government stepping between doctors and patients. When the government asserts the power to provide care, it also asserts the power to deny care.

There’s much more in Dr. Coburn’s column, go read it all and share it with your family and friends.

I’m not sure what I can add, Dr. Coburn is right, most of us probably will be alright under the Reid bill, but some won’t… The practice of medicine is as much an art as it is a science; patients whose lives hang in the balance rely on the care of doctors who understand the art and science of medicine, and who are free to act in the best interests of their patients without government interference.

Related

• ObamaCare and the Liberal Obsession – Daniel Henninger, Wall Street Journal
• The mother of all unfunded mandates – Paul Mirengoff, Power Line

Michael Moore: Start recall of Lieberman 2day or we’ll boycott your state.

I don’t know what’s funnier this tweet by nutroots clown prince Michael Moore:

People of Connecticut: What have u done 2 this country? We hold u responsible. Start recall of Lieberman 2day or we’ll boycott your state.

Or this statement by Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro:

“No individual should hold health care hostage, including Joe Lieberman, and I’ll say it flat out, I think he ought to be recalled,” Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) told POLITICO.

Heh, first of all Connecticut has no recall law for state officials, second the Constitution prohibits states from recalling members of Congress, instead each house of Congress has the authority to police its own members. I can forgive Michael Moore… He’s a loud mouth moron with no actual power or influence.

Rosa DeLauro on the other hand I can’t forgive, she’s a member of Congress who swore an oath to “Preserve, protect and defend the Constitution” and she’s apparently clueless about it provisions. If anyone should be “recalled” it’s Rep. DeLauro… Fortunately for Connecticut and the voters of the 3rd district the 2010 elections are less than a year away and we can send her into a much needed retirement!

By the way Connecticut, lets show Michael Moore a little love and boycott him!

Related

• Michael Moore To Boycott Constitution – Caleb Howe, Red State
• Beclowned: Michael Moore threatens to boycott Connecticut over Lieberman – Michelle Malkin

Tom Coburn Fires Warning Shot Across Harry Reid’s Bow

Things got little interesting in the Senate earlier today when Senator Tom Coburn fired what can best be called a warning shot across Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s bow.

Sen. Coburn refused to allow unanimous consent on Sen. Bernie Sander’s single payer amendment to the health care reform bill and demanded that they read entire bill be read into the record:

A Republican senator is forcing Senate clerks to read aloud a 767-page amendment to the Democrats’ health care overhaul bill that would establish a single-payer national health care system.

Typically, lawmakers allow the required reading of legislation on the Senate floor to be waived, but not this time.

A spokesman for Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma said Mr. Coburn objected to waiving the reading of Sen. Bernie Sanders’ amendment to educate the public.

“He believes a reading of the amendment would help the American people understand the competing approaches to reform,” said John Hart, a spokesman for Mr. Coburn. He hopes to “highlight the real debate, which is between government-run health care and patient-centered health care.”

Mr. Coburn, a physician who opposes the Democrats’ health bill, plans to require all 767 pages of the amendment to be read, which is expected to take 16 to 24 hours, Mr. Hart said.

Heh, it’s nice to see Republicans finally putting up a fight… Sen. Sanders’ amendment should been a non-event, no one expected it to go anywhere; especially since the public option and Medicare buy-in couldn’t get 60 votes. Instead it’s front page news because Tom Coburn had the courage to follow through on the threat he made last month.

The Democrats were able to convince Sen. Sanders to withdraw his amendment, but not until the Senate had been tied up in knots for about three hours.

Ed Morrissey sums things up pretty over at Hot Air:

What does this do?  It makes a hash out of Harry Reid’s plan to move the bill through the Senate by Christmas.  Twelve hours of floor time for just a single amendment means that no other business can be conducted until at least Friday.  Coburn apparently launched this effort in response to an attempt by Reid to shove the bill to a cloture vote without giving everyone enough time to read the bill or peruse the CBO analysis, due this week.

It’s a reminder that even with a supermajority, Reid needs to work with the minority to keep momentum.  He can’t pull a Nancy Pelosi jamdown in the upper chamber, and any further attempts will mean weeks of bill reading as the legislation effectively filibusters itself.

Bottom line, this bill is a train wreck and nobody likes it, Howard Dean says kill it and start over, the AFL-CIO and SEIU are reportedly calling emergency meetings and may withdraw support for the bill… The best thing for all concerned would be to kill this turd and start over with smaller more commonsense plan that will provide a safety net for the roughly 12 million Americans who want health insurance but can’t get it either because of cost or preexisting conditions.

No one is denying there are problems in our curent health care system, but the reality is the current system works  reasonably well for the majority of Americans… Effectively blowing it up and replacing with system that will increase costs, limit choice and lead to rationing is the wrong way to go about reform.

Update: Did the Democrats break Senate rules in allowing Bernie Sanders to withdraw his amendment? It certainly looks like it:

The Senate Republican leadership believes that the parliamentarian allowed Democrats to violate the rules of the Senate by allowing Sen. Bernie Sanders to cut off the reading of his single-payer proposal.

When an amendment is introduced, it has to be read on the Senate floor unless the rest of the Senate agrees to cut off the reading, and typically, the requirement is waived through “unanimous consent.” Yet today, Sen. Tom Coburn insisted that Sanders’ 767 page bill be read on the Senate floor, which was on pace to take more than 12 hours.

But about three hours into the reading, Sanders withdrew his amendment, and this stopped the reading of the bill — even without unanimous consent.

It looks like Democrats are hell bent committing political suicide.

Related

• The End of HSAs – Wall Street Journal
• Senate Health Care Bill Would Force Some Middle Class Families to Pay $15,200 Yearly Insurance Fee, According to CBO Analysis – CNSNew.com
• CBO confirms ObamaCare is a takeover of the health insurance industry – The Greenroom

Senate Democrats Reach Health Reform Compromise; Drop Public Option

From the Wall Street Journal:

Senior Senate Democrats reached tentative agreement Tuesday night to abandon the government-run insurance plan in their health-overhaul bill and to expand Medicare coverage to some people ages 55 to 64, clearing the most significant hurdle so far in getting a bill that can pass Congress.

Liberals dropped the public insurance plan that was a central plank of the Democrats’ health bill in favor of a more limited alternative, following intense pressure from a small group of Democrats who had insisted for months that it was a deal-breaker. While disputes over abortion coverage and other issues remain, Democrats appeared a whisker away from having enough votes to overcome Republican opposition and pass a sweeping health overhaul in the Senate.

The Senate bill — including the lack of a public plan — is likely to form the core of any final legislation, though it will have to be reconciled with a health bill passed by the House last month.

This compromise is the result of several days of negotiations by a group of 10 Democratic senators — five moderates and five liberals, it replaces the public option with a more limited plan administered by the government’s Office of Personnel Management.

According to the Journal, the new national plan would be run by nonprofit entities set up by the private sector, and would be available to the public on the new insurance exchanges that would be created under the bill. If no private insurers sign up with the Office of Personnel Management to offer a national plan, the office would be authorized to implement a direct government-run plan.

The Office of Personnel Management currently administers plans offered to federal employees and members of Congress.

Bottom line, I still expect the Senate to pass a Health Care a reform bill this year, and I don’t buy the tough talk coming from Jerrold Nadler and Jan Schakowsky in the House… If liberals in the House have to roll over to get a reform bill done they will… It’s as simple that, Democrats have invested to much time and political capital in Health Care Reform. They’re going to get a bill through Congress, we the people and the consequences be damned.

House Passes Health Care Refore Bill

I meant to post this yesterday but it slipped through the cracks of what was another manic Monday.

The House of Representatives passed Nancy Pelosi’s 1,990 page health care reform bill by a vote of 220 to 215 on Saturday night.

The House of Representatives late Saturday night approved a historic bill to remake the U.S. health-care system, delivering President Barack Obama a key procedural victory on his top domestic priority after a lengthy and sometimes emotional day of debate on the nearly 2,000-page measure.

By a vote of 220-215, lawmakers approved a 10-year, $1.055 trillion bill that aims to put in place near-universal health-care coverage in the United States, would require individuals to buy and most businesses to offer coverage, and expand Medicaid. Poorer Americans would get subsidies to buy insurance under the bill, and insurers would be barred from denying coverage to people with pre-existing conditions.

The bill would also establish a government-run health-insurance plan option to compete with private insurers — the controversial “public option” strongly backed by Obama but sharply opposed by Republicans.

Just one Republican, Rep. Joseph Cao of Louisiana, voted for the White House-backed bill. A substitute bill offered by the GOP failed on a vote of 176-258. The House Democrats’ bill will now need to be melded with a bill awaiting action in the Senate.

Obama said after the vote that the bill “will provide stability and security for Americans who have insurance; quality affordable options for those who don’t; and bring down the cost of health care for families, businesses, and the government while strengthening the financial health of Medicare. And it is legislation that is fully paid for and will reduce our long-term federal deficit.”

The president added that he is “absolutely confident” that the Senate will pass its version of the law, “and I look forward to signing comprehensive health insurance reform into law by the end of the year.”

Before the vote, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said it was “an historic moment for our nation and for America’s families.”

House lawmakers began debating late Saturday morning and were immediately caught up in partisan fighting. But House Democratic leaders were upbeat about the bill’s prospects after an early afternoon meeting with Obama, who made a rare Saturday trip to Capitol Hill to press members to pass the measure.

That the bill passed is no surprise, that Republicans helped it pass is… The sad reality here is that if the Republican’s had shown a little political courage and voted present on the Stupak Amendment there’s a good chance the Democrats wouldn’t have been able to find enough votes in their own caucus to pass H.R. 3962, the Health Care Reform bill.

I understand why Republicans essentially had to vote for the Stupak Amendment… Abortion is an important issue to great many voters and if Republicans had voted against the Stupak Amendment they more than likely would have faced a backlash from pro-life voters. Unfortunately, is was a wasted vote, Henry Waxmen and other have pointedly said there’s “no guarantee” the Stupak Amendment will be retained in the final version of the bill.

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) even said during the floor debate on the bill Saturday that he doubts the amendment will survive the conference committee.

Regardless the fight now heads to the Senate where the conventional wisdom says it will be a much tougher fight… Don’t believe it, I fully expect the Senate to pass a Health Care reform bill this year, probably without a so called Public Option, but they will pass a bill. A bill that will put us one step closer to the Democrats goal of a socialized single payer system… A system that does things like this.

Related

• ObamaCare legislation in trouble – New York Post
• Health reformers prepare for Senate hurdle – Financial Times
• Government-Run ‘Public Option’ in Pelosi Health Bill Threatens to Kill Hospitals, Says Democrat Who Voted Against the Bill – CNSNews.com
• PelosiCare could be bad news for the dollar – James Pethokoukis, Reuters

AMA May Withdraw Health Care Reform Endorsement

It looks like the American Medical Association’s Board of Trustees decision to endorse the House Health Care Reform bill is about to backfire. A significant chunk of the group is upset that the Trustee’s made the endorsement without the formal approval of the organization’s House of Delegates and is pushing a resolution that, if approved, will withdraw the groups endorsement of the bill:

The American Medical Association’s much-touted endorsement of the House health care reform bill has triggered a revolt among some members who want the endorsement withdrawn.

Some members are outraged that the group’s trustees made the endorsement without the formal approval of the organization’s House of Delegates.

On Monday, delegates will vote on a resolution offered by some members that, if approved, will withdraw the AMA’s endorsement of the bill.

The resolution introduced by the delegations from Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida , Georgia , Kansas , Louisiana , New Jersey , South Carolina , West Virginia , American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, American Association of Neurological Surgeons, Congress of Neurological Surgeons, American Society of General Surgeons, and the Triological Society reads:

Resolved, that the House of Delegates of the American Medical Association rescinds the action taken by the AMA Board of Trustees supporting HR 3962 the Affordable Health Care for America Act.

On a related note CNN released a new poll on health care reform yesterday that should have Blue Dog Democrats shaking in their boots:

Nearly six in ten Americans want Congress to continue working on health care reform bills that have been passed through various committees, according to a new national poll.

Fifty-nine percent of people questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey say lawmakers should continue working on the legislation, a rise of 6 points since August. But only a quarter say those bills should be passed pretty much as is, with a third suggesting that Congress should make major changes. The poll also indicates that one in four say lawmakers should start from scratch and 15 percent want Congress to stop all work on health care reform.

Lets not pull punches here, any Democrat that votes for this turkey had better be from a bullet proof, solid blue, liberal district or they’re very likely out of a job come the 2010 mid-terms.

Steny Hoyer: We Don’t Have the Votes… Yet.

From the Associated Press:

House Democrats acknowledged they don’t yet have the votes to pass a sweeping overhaul of the nation’s health care system, and signaled they may push back the vote until Sunday or early next week.

Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., told reporters in a conference call Friday that the make-or-break vote on President Barack Obama’s push to make health coverage part of the social safety net could face delay. Democrats were originally hoping to pass the bill on Saturday-and officially, that’s still the plan.

But Democrats have yet to resolve a intraparty disputes over abortion funding and illegal immigrants’ access to medical coverage. They cleared one hurdle Friday when liberals supporting a government-run Medicare-for-all system withdrew their demand for a floor vote.

Hoyer sought to pin the blame for any possible slippage on delaying tactics expected from Republicans, who unanimously oppose the health care remake.

Heh, of course they’re trying to pin the blame on Republicans, it can’t possibly be because of divisions in their own caucus… I mean it’s not like the Democrats have a 256 seat majority in the House or anything… oh, right, yeah, um – never mind.

Dan Perrin has the Whip list here… If you’re in any of their districts, call, fax, e-mail tell them to just say no to Obama/Pelosi care.

Joe Lieberman: I’ll Block Vote on Harry Reid’s Health Care Reform Plan

From Politico:

Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) said Tuesday that he’d back a GOP filibuster of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s health care reform bill.

Lieberman, who caucuses with Democrats and is positioning himself as a fiscal hawk on the issue, said he opposes any health care bill that includes a government-run insurance program — even if it includes a provision allowing states to opt out of the program, as Reid’s has said the Senate bill will.

“We’re trying to do too much at once,” Lieberman said. “To put this government-created insurance company on top of everything else is just asking for trouble for the taxpayers, for the premium payers and for the national debt. I don’t think we need it now.”

Lieberman added that he’d vote against a public option plan “even with an opt-out because it still creates a whole new government entitlement program for which taxpayers will be on the line.”

His comments confirmed that Reid is short of the 60 votes needed to advance the bill out of the Senate, even after Reid included the opt-out provision. Several other moderate Democrats expressed skepticism at the proposal as well, but most of the wavering Democratic senators did not go as far as Lieberman Tuesday, saying they were waiting to see the details.

Kudos to Sen. Lieberman, I have a sneaking suspicion that the media’s new found, um, respect for independent-minded centrists like Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins won’t be extended to Joe Lieberman… Regardless, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s Health Care Reform Plan is in trouble. When you combine Sen. Lieberman’s announcement with Sen. Snowe’s comments saying she won’t vote for Reid’s opt-out public option either and you’re looking at 41 votes to kill it. Add in still uncommitted Blue Dog Democrats like Ben Nelson (D-NE) and Mary Landrieu (D-LA) and it’s not looking good the Majority Leader’s plan.

TPM has a short summary on this means procedurally… In short, there’s two cloture votes coming on Reid’s plan. One to open floor debate and consider amendments to it and a second to close debate and proceed to a vote on the bill itself. Sen. Lieberman’s comments indicate he’s willing to vote yes on the first but not on the second unless Sen. Reid agrees to drop the public option. And this where it’s gets interesting Sen. Reid’s reelection effort in trouble, if he kills the public option progressives abandon him and pretty much kill his reelection chances. If he sticks with the public option he’ll run into that 41 vote problem.

Update: It look’s like the Democrats are short of the votes needed for a robust Public Option in the House too:

The House Dem leadership has conducted its preliminary whip count and has tallied up less than 200 likely Yes votes in support of a health care reform bill with a robust public option, well short of the 218 needed for passage, according to an internal whip count document I’ve obtained.

The document — compiled by the office of House leader James Clyburn — was distributed privately at a meeting between Clyburn and House progressives today where the fate of the public option was the subject of some contentious debate, with liberals demanding that House leaders push harder to win over votes.

Clyburn spokesperson Kristie Greco would only say: “We currently do not have the votes for a robust public option.”

I’m not sure what to make of this, Ace thinks the Democrat Leadership knows the Public Option is dead and that this is just some sort of elaborate political theater to pacify their base. I’m not so sure it’s as simple as that, their leadership knows this may be their last, best chance to get a government run health care plan through Congress and they’re willing to pay any price… including losing the next election to get it done.

Related

• Republicans question health care improvements – Associated Press
• House health care bill over $1 trillion for decade – Associated Press
• FACT CHECK: Health insurers’ profits 35th of 53 – Associated Press

Fact Check: The U.S. Ranks 37th in the World in Health Care.

Health care reform advocates love to quote the World Health Organization report that claims the U.S. ranks 37th in the world in health care. That study is as Carl Bialik, the Wall Street Journal’s numbers guy, explains in today’s edition is nearly a decade old and relies on statistics that are even older or incomplete:

During the health-care debate, one damning statistic keeps popping up in newspaper columns and letters, on cable television and in politicians’ statements: The U.S. ranks 37th in the world in health care.

The trouble is, the ranking is dated and flawed, and has contributed to misconceptions about the quality of the U.S. medical system.

Among all the numbers bandied about in the health-care debate, this ranking stands out as particularly misleading. It is based on a report released nearly a decade ago by the World Health Organization and relies on statistics that are even older and incomplete.

Few people who cite the ranking are aware that some public-health officials were skeptical of the report from the outset. The ranking was faulted because it judges health-care systems for problems — cultural, behavioral, economic — that aren’t controlled by health care.

“It’s a very notorious ranking,” says Mark Pearson, head of health for the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the 30-member, Paris-based organization of the world’s largest economies. “Health analysts don’t like to talk about it in polite company. It’s one of those things that we wish would go away.”

More recent efforts to rank national health systems have been inconclusive. On measures such as child mortality and life expectancy, the U.S. has slipped since the 2000 rankings. But some researchers say that factors beyond the control of the health-care system are to blame, such as dietary habits. Studies that have attempted to exclude these factors from the equation don’t agree on whether the U.S. system looks better or worse.

When you look at other statistics like the mortality rates for common cancers Americans have much better survival rates than Europeans or Canadians. A fact Scott Atlas highlights in a report for the National Center for Policy Analysis titled “10 Surprising Facts about American Health Care“.

My father battled cancer for ten years, in those ten years he was able to walk my sister down the isle and watch his grandchildren grow… Given the type of cancer he had and the mortality rates in other countries it’s doubtful he would have been here to do either elsewhere. Our health care system isn’t perfect but it’s far better than health care reform advocates would have us believe.

Realted

• Adding Insult to Injury: The Baucus Health Plan Imposes New Taxes on the Sick – Heritage Foundation
  

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